Britain wants significant increase in trade with Korea: envoy

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- The top British envoy here said Thursday that London
hopes to see significant progress in finalizing a free trade agreement (FTA)
between South Korea and the European Union by developing close partnership in
various fields.
"As the FTA was being negotiated, we diplomats had to remain in close contact
with industry associations to ensure that what was being negotiated was what they
wanted," Amb. Martin Uden said in a lecture at the Korea Bar Association in
Seoul.
After two years of protracted negotiations, South Korea and the EU initialed the
final text of the trade deal in October last year. The deal still needs to be
approved by South Korea's National Assembly and the heads of the EU's 27 member
states.
"I would like see UK and Korean firms developing close partnership. They both
have much to gain," Uden said.
If approved, the FTA with Seoul would be the EU's first free trade deal signed
with Asia. The EU was South Korea's second-biggest trading partner.
Uden first began his diplomatic career in South Korea in 1978 and returned twice
on further postings, mostly recently as ambassador in February last year.
Acquainted with the political situation on the Korean Peninsula after his visit
to Pyongyang last year, the envoy contrasted South and North Korea and urged
efforts to promote human rights issues and freedom in the communist regime.
"Evidently two nations from the same stock, but one is universally distrusted,
with no credence given to any promise it makes, and is one of the world's worst
human rights offenders," Uden said.
In 2003, he published a book, titled "Times Past in Korea," an anthology of
Korean customs and encounters recorded by foreign visitors over the years.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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